Darkness Shall Fall
by DareDreamer
Summary: A new evil has risen, threatening to shroud Berk in darkness. If the Riders can destroy this new threat, it will not be a simple task. They have to defeat a lone rider and his Night Fury... who seem to be more powerful than the Riders themselves!
1. Monster

It watched as its prey, a lone human, strode into the darkness that would soon consume him. The Night Fury narrowed its yellow eyes, predatorial instinct taking over. This was no ordinary quarry. This human was part of an army led by a madman that had killed the Night Fury's parents before he had even hatched. Every thought of him, or even a mention of his name, made Eclipse's blood boil with rage.

As soon as the human entered the moonlit area, Eclipse stood motionless, waiting to strike. The human looked in his direction… and the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself struck. Eclipse savored every moment, from the human's screams of pain and agony as his very flesh was torn, the snapping and crunching of his bones, and the taste of blood in his mouth. As Eclipse stared at the dead corpse, his appetite savored, he felt it.

 _His master._

Eclipse listened as the trees whispered around him, as if they were speaking to him. His master told him to return. Eclipse gave a slow bow and shot off into the night sky, the full moon shining brightly. But just fifteen seconds into his flight, he sensed… danger. Eclipse reacted too late as a bola slammed into his side. He roared as he plummeted to the ground. The landing made his vision blurry, but he could hear voices. Human voices. "We got 'im, lads! Bring him in!" "Soil my britches! Is that…" "It IS a Night Fury! Drago would reward us handsomely for bringing in one of those!" Upon hearing that _dreaded_ name, Eclipse growled and thrashed around, but the bola's bindings were too tight. "Hahaha! Look at 'im struggle!" "Put it in a trap. We set off at dawn."


	2. Shadows

The young man, dressed entirely in black armor, walked up to the main entrance of the base on Outpost Island, called "Dragon's Edge" by its owners. He had ordered his Night Fury to remain hidden in the shadows, and to kill anyone who saw him. If they could, anyway. He was in command of an entire army of the deadly creatures, making them live up to what the Vikings thought of them. But his best Night Fury companion would have to be the very first one he had encountered: one he had named Eclipse.

He had found Eclipse when he was just a hatchling. Imprisoned and tortured by Drago's men, he had freed him and trained him to embrace his inner rage. Now, Eclipse was the ultimate killing machine, with a power that could even rival the great Bewilderbeast, the natural Alpha of all dragons. He had also given Eclipse command of his Night Fury army if his master was not present.

But now, Eclipse had not yet returned to his master. Perhaps he had been captured. The man pushed the thought of rescuing him out of his mind. Other riders would rush off to find their dragons because they could not escape their captors, but Eclipse… he was another matter. His captors would soon realize their mistake of capturing a monster ready to be unleashed.

The man entered the main clubhouse to find a group of tall, bulky, bristly-haired Vikings inside talking about their chief. These men were from Berk, possibly. The group instantly stopped talking and turned to the newcomer. "Who the bloody Hel are you?" one of them asked. The young man didn't answer. It wasn't that he had a personal grudge against Berk, but they had something he needed. Yes, there was a Night Fury on Berk. One more to add to his collection. But there was something unusual about this one. He had heard stories of it.

This Night Fury was the companion of Berk's chief. Part of his tailfin was a red prosthetic, making him unmistakable. He had also performed a task no normal dragon would ever accomplish: challenging the Alpha and winning. That was the main reason the man in black needed him. Soon, his army wouldn't just contain Night Furies, but the entire dragon race. With it, he would extinguish both Drago Bludvist's army and the village of Berk (who would probably launch an assault to reclaim what would be stolen from them). But there was one downside: the chief had given the Night Fury a ridiculous name. Toothless. That fact disgusted the young man right to his very soul. Once he was in possession of him, he would rename the Alpha. What the new name would be hadn't occurred to him yet.

He turned to the men. "You have something I need." One of the men huffed. "Whatever it is, it ain't here." "Of course, it isn't. I want you to take me to him." Another man perked up. "Him?" The young man glared under the helmet. "Yes, _him_." He announced in a dark, vicious tone. Beneath his helmet, his voice sounded almost demonic. "If you cannot take me to him, bring him to me." The men instantly shot up, weapons drawn. "The gods will unleash their wrath upon you if you so much as touch our chief!" The young man laughed. "Who said I wanted your chief? I want his so-called 'friend'".

Now realizing who the stranger was after, the men growled. "You ain't takin' the Alpha." It was exactly what he had expected them to say. "So be it… Vikings." One of the men turned to another. "Kovar, take one of the dragons in the stables! Warn the chief!" The other man nodded and dashed for a door… only to have it slam shut in his face. He desperately attempted to open it, but to no avail. "It's locked!" Under the black helmet, the young man smiled. The Night Fury he had arrived on, Fierceclaws, had overheard everything and had closed and locked every door in the clubhouse.

There was a reason Night Furies were supposed to be intelligent species.

Along with his army, the man had also perfected something only one other had accomplished: weaponizing Night Fury plasma. She had managed to shoot them like projectiles, while this young man took an… alternative method. He unhooked a metal tube from his belt and held it out. The men stared at him in fear. Good. "Who do you think you are?!" the men shouted in terror. The man in black armor pressed a button on the tube, and a blade of pure purple energy, made from crystallized Night Fury plasma, erupted from the hilt. Two short cross guard blades followed shortly. "What am I?" The man taunted menacingly at the cowering "warriors", although a few were ready to face the demon that confronted them. "I am your worst nightmare. I am the terror all terrors fear. I spread darkness across this whole land. Berk will soon be consumed by it. Its residents will scream as they are swallowed by the black. I am… the Shadowhunter." And with that, he swung his weapon at the men, the purple light almost welcoming them to their fate.


	3. Message

For the Dragon Riders, adventure was always calling. Normally, they would chart new islands and discover new dragon species. Normally, they would end riots and conflict peacefully.

Today was no different.

It had been three months since Drago had come into their lives. He had killed Berk's previous chief and had stolen all of Berk's dragons. His moment of victory was brief. The Riders had managed to defeat him and reclaim the dragons. They were hailed as heroes more than ever now.

And yet, they still had work to do. Just this morning, they had received a Terror message. It said:

 _Get over to Dragon's Edge, quick!_

 _You aren't going to believe what happened here!_

 _-Heather_

They had responded immediately. They were now approaching their stronghold on Outpost Island. Hiccup's eyes widened as he noticed…smoke coming from the clubhouse. Had the Edge been attacked? If so, who was responsible? Were the Vikings stationed here able to fend them off?

As he guided Toothless down, Hiccup scanned the surrounding waters for any signs of ship wreckage. There was none. "Who could have done this?" He heard Astrid mutter beside him as they landed. "I don't know." Just upon dismounting their dragons, they saw Heather waiting for them by the clubhouse's entrance. Her expression was that of either sadness or fear. Mostly fear, Hiccup guessed. The twins were awed at the sight of the building. "What happened here?" Astrid asked her friend. Heather didn't reply. Instead she gestured to the clubhouse's interior.

The Riders all froze at what they saw. Chairs and tables were overturned, some of them broken. The doors were all locked. The map was shredded, much to Hiccup's dismay. The Vikings stationed here were all dead. And the most intimidating thing… there were long, bleeding, cindered gashes on the walls. Tiny wisps of smoke rose from the angry wooden wounds. Astrid bent down to inspect the bodies, and she gasped. "Look at this…" The dead Vikings had the same long marks. One had a mark on his chest, another had one on his leg and arm, and another… on the face. Hiccup cringed at the sight. "Guys?" Snotlout said shockingly. "I think we missed something." On the very back wall was a message written in the victims' own blood. It read: _Surrender what I desire if you wish to avoid the fate of these men. If you refuse… the Shadowhunter will come for you._ "Oooh, Shadowhunter." Tuffnut whispered in awe. "Cool name." "But… who is he? What does he want?" Astrid asked. Hiccup just stared at the message. It was clear they had a new foe. And something told him he wouldn't be like those Hiccup and his friends had already faced.


	4. Control

The next night, Hiccup and Toothless were enjoying a flight until they had noticed a dragon trap guarded by Drago's men. The two had quickly landed and began to dispatch the men. Hiccup never killed (well only once), so he ordered Toothless to only knock the men unconscious. (A/N: By "only once", I am referring to the graphic novel, The Serpent's Heir, in which Hiccup had killed Calder, a man who believed he was turning into a dragon, by throwing a canister of Zippleback gas at Calder, who was using Hiccup's own weapon against him. The canister exploded in his face, making Calder burn, fall off a cliff, and die.) Once Toothless had done his job, Hiccup examined the gears of the device, and prepared to turn the crank that opened it.

These men were fools. They simply thought they could hold Eclipse by tying him down with ropes and stuffing him inside a large, metal device that resembled a beast's jaw. That would not stop him. Eclipse slowly tried to stand up, pushing all his strength into snapping the ropes. One by one, they broke away. As he pondered about his next move, he sensed another dragon close by. It was… yes… another future servant of his master's army. "Knock 'em out, Toothless! Remember, no killing!" a voice called from outside. Eclipse drew back from the wall he was near. This was the dragon Master was looking for. But he had never told Eclipse why he wanted this Night Fury. Maybe it was special. As the sounds of a fight echoed outside, Eclipse sniffed the wall and located a weak spot. He slowly breathed plasma on the weak spot and started to move it in the shape of a hole big enough for him to escape through. (A/N: Here, Eclipse does the same technique Toothless uses in the first film when he warms the ground before he goes to sleep after he first meets Hiccup.) When he was done, he pushed down the weak wall. As it smashed down to the ground, Eclipse slowly trotted out to freedom and instantly noticed the Night Fury and its rider. He turned to the Night Fury, whose green eyes studied Eclipse closely.

Eclipse snorted, and his yellow eyes started to turn to a dark shade of purple. As he started to take control of the Night Fury, he felt something… wrong. Something like this normally didn't happen with other Night Furies he had taken control of. Normally, this dragon would have howled in pain and thrashed around, trying to resist Eclipse's grip on them. But this Night Fury was still standing there, wondering what in the moons Eclipse was trying to do. Eclipse didn't understand. Why. Wasn't It. WORKING?! Eclipse tried to concentrate harder, and he heard the human speak to his dragon. He, too, was wondering what Eclipse was up to. Realizing this Night Fury was resisting so badly, Eclipse snapped. His eyes shot open, he roared in fury… and slashed his claw across the dragon's face.


	5. Merciless

Hiccup instantly panicked when he saw the yellow-eyed Night Fury attack Toothless. He rushed to his dragon's side. "Toothless! Are you okay, bud?!" Toothless had a scar over his left eye, and he was moaning in pain. The other Night Fury roared and blasted them, knocking Hiccup to the ground. When he recovered, both Night Furies were thrashing around on the ground, roaring and snarling. Hiccup couldn't even tell them apart. As he ran over, he heard the yellow-eyed Night Fury snarl something at Toothless. Normally, it would have sounded like a snarl, but Valka, Hiccup's mother, had taught him the dragons' own language, which she called Dragonese.

 _"_ _Why do you resist me?!"_ The newcomer roared. _"R-resist you?"_ Toothless moaned back. _"I don't even know you!"_ The newcomer lunged at him again. _"You WILL submit to my control!"_ Hiccup froze, shocked. Control? Was this dragon attempting to take Toothless away from him? No. Hiccup wouldn't let that happen a third time. "Get away from him!" he yelled at the newcomer. The Night Fury turned to him. _"You. You are the one who commands him. Very well then, my master will have you both!"_ "Master?" Hiccup was even more confused now. _"Of course, you wouldn't know, Hiccup. But soon, all of Berk will tremble when they hear that the Shadowhunter comes for them!"_

Hiccup was just about to ask the newcomer how he knew his name and the Shadowhunter when he heard a groan behind him. The unconscious men were coming to! The newcomer noticed this and, removing his attention off Toothless, charged at the men and began to slaughter them. Taking the opportunity, Hiccup raced over to his friend. "Come on, Toothless, get up! We gotta go now!" He didn't dare witness the carnage behind him, but he couldn't block out the dragon's snarls and the men's dying screams. Toothless, despite his injuries, shot off into the air just as Hiccup mounted. Both human and dragon heard the newcomers' anguished roars. Hiccup wondered why he hadn't chose to pursue them.


	6. Plan

As Eclipse flew back to the island that served as the Shadowhunter's own base, he fumed with rage and unleashed it on any sea stack he could find. How could he have lost them? HOW COULD HE HAVE LOST THEM?! His master would be displeased. Or would he? He did treat Eclipse like a brother most of the time.

"So, you found them." His master guessed. _"Yes, master."_ Eclipse replied. _"But they escaped. I apologize for…"_ "There is no need, Eclipse." Shadowhunter interrupted, his helmet gleaming in the moonlight. "Now we know they care for each other. If one of them falls, the other is sure to follow." Eclipse tilted his head. _"You don't want me to kill them, do you?"_ His master smirked beneath the helmet. The reason he had trained Eclipse to be a killing machine was because he had hatched during a lunar eclipse, hence his name. And because of this, he had been granted special abilities that were rare to the Night Fury species. They included enhanced senses, control over other Night Furies and, strangest of all, the ability to read minds.

"No, I want the one called 'Toothless' brought to me alive. With his status of Alpha, I will control not just the Night Furies, but the entire dragon race. And soon, the world will be engulfed in my darkness." Eclipse gave a small frown. _"That may be a flawless plan, master, but I am curious. Why was this dragon given the role of leadership? I tapped into his thoughts. Instead of a brave warrior, he is mostly nothing but an overgrown house pet."_ "Only around those who he calls his friends, Eclipse." His master informed. "He only becomes threatening when he or his allies are in danger. So, I need you to find them." _"Where will I find them?"_ "They are located on the isle of Berk, located just miles from here." Shadowhunter thought of what Berk looked like from his recent spy on it. Eclipse picked this up and nodded. _"When do I start, master?"_ "The night is still young, Eclipse. You are to head there immediately. Kill your targets only if necessary." Eclipse bowed. _"As you wish, my master."_ And in the blink of an eye, he was gone.


	7. Creature In The Night

Stormfly had had a long day. After a long flight and a few hours of training with her rider, Astrid, the Deadly Nadder was almost relieved to get a good night's sleep. But she had only gotten what seemed like three hours of sleep when she heard wingbeats. Groggily, Stormfly opened her eyes to see a Night Fury with yellow eyes hovering in front of her. _"Hello there."_ he said, catching the attention of her teammates, who bolted awake instantly. Hookfang looked surprised, Barf and Belch looked a bit frightened, and Meatlug was wondering what in all the snakes was going on. Stormfly, however, frowned and stood in a defensive pose.

The Night Fury eyed the group for a while before speaking. _"The companions of the legendary Riders of Berk, at last."_ He sniffed the air. _"But what's that I smell? Could it be… fear?"_ He seemed to glare at the Zippleback as he spoke this. _"Whoever you are, you have no business with us!"_ Stormfly threatened. _"Do I? Should I have not known you are close friends with the Alpha?"_ She froze. _"How do you know that?" "My kind is known for their secrets."_ Hookfang turned to face him. _"We don't know anything about you, Blackie. Not even your name."_ The Night Fury stared at him, then at everyone. _"You may call me… Eclipse. In the brief moments that remain to you." "What do you want?"_ Stormfly asked. _"Your Alpha. He has someone he needs to meet."_ She turned to the others. They all had the same expressions. They didn't trust this "Eclipse". _"If you want him, you're gonna have to get through us first!"_ Stormfly growled, her tail spikes unsheathed. _"And you're outnumbered, four against one!"_ Meatlug added. _"Hmph. Fine by me."_ Eclipse then blasted by them and landed in the training arena. _Looks like he wants a fair fight._ Stormfly thought. _"FACE ME!"_ Eclipse roared as he fired a plasma bolt into the air, challenging them. The four dragons then followed him to the arena and landed in battle poses, ready to confront this mysterious foe.


	8. Four Against One

Stormfly watched her opponents' moves carefully, recalling Astrid's teachings. Eclipse was fast, weaving, dodging and counterattacking every now and then. He had just recently slammed Hookfang to the ground, pinning his head with one talon. He had also tried to tear off Barf's neck and used Meatlug's own size against her. Stormfly shot five tail spikes at him, but Eclipse swiftly dodged them, almost as if he had predicted the attack. In response, Eclipse charged and flew past Stormfly in a black blur. Stormfly almost thought he had missed… until she felt a searing pain in her neck. She slowly looked down and began to feel weak.

On her neck were three long gashes, dripping out blood.

It wouldn't be long before she passed out (or _died_ ). Eclipse roared and fired plasma blasts at the group, who wrapped their wings around their heads to block the shots. Except for Meatlug, who was hit. Suddenly, Stormfly had an idea. She turned to the others. _"Execute big bang maneuver!"_ Barf and Belch stood in awe before both heads accepted. _"I've been waiting to try this out!"_ Belch shouted. The Zippleback reared back and sprayed out a continuous cloud of its green gas.

 _"_ _Agh!"_ Eclipse growled as the gas began to engulf him. With a snarl, he shooed away the gas with a single wingbeat, but the gas kept coming. _"You fools! Do you simply wish to blind me? I do not need to see you to fight you!"_ Stormfly took position. _"Hold…hold…"_ Eclipse screeched as he tried to fight the gas, but it just kept coming. Barf couldn't keep spraying him forever. Stormfly rose back and felt the heat rising in her throat. The others did the same as Barf started to look weak. _"NOW!"_ She yelled. Everyone unloaded at once, blasting the gas cloud and igniting it, making it explode into a gigantic fireball that could be seen all over the village. The explosion drowned Eclipse's roars of fury. In an instant, it was all over.

Stormfly and the others collapsed, completely exhausted. All that remained was a huge smoking crater right where Eclipse was standing. Their human companions would surely thank them for vanquishing this foe. But about that huge hole in the floor… Nah. They would patch it up. _"W-we did it."_ Stormfly huffed. What would be their reward? Maybe some new combat moves? Maybe some…

Stormfly snapped back to the smoke cloud as she saw something… _moving_ in there. It looked like a… No. He couldn't have… No one could possibly survive…

The smoke cloud vanished, revealing Eclipse, alive- _alive!_ – and with burns on his wings, tail, head and sides. His eyes were glowing a bright purple. _"Impossible."_ Meatlug muttered. _"But…but… NO ONE could survive that! No one, Stormfly!"_ Hookfang shouted desperately. Eclipse chuckled, his burns letting out wisps of smoke. _"Very good."_ He taunted. _"It appears that your human allies had taught you well, teamwork and all."_ He rose to his full height, and Stormfly noticed his spine start to glow purple. It reminded her of Toothless' own spine glowing blue. _"But there is one thing they missed in their teachings… Some of your foes are not so easily defeated."_ A bright purple beam shot from his mouth, and Stormfly saw white…


	9. Defeat

As the sun rose over the village, Hiccup watched over his village. His people. But as much as they gave him hope, he couldn't stop thinking about that mysterious yellow-eyed Night Fury, what he wanted with Toothless and his ties to this "Shadowhunter". Before he could think about that, he was interrupted by ear-piercing wails… coming from the arena, where smoke was rising from. He dashed over with Toothless to see what the problem was. When he arrived, his heart stopped at what he saw.

His friends' dragons lay defeated- he dared not to think of them dead- and his friends were heartbroken, thinking they were gone. Astrid knelt in front of Stormfly, sobbing and hugging her dragon's horn. Snotlout stared wide-eyed at Hookfang's unconscious form, not believing what he was seeing. Fishlegs was weeping like a baby, and the twins were dead silent. A large smoking crater lay in the center of the arena, with burn marks here and there. Instinctively, Hiccup walked over to Astrid, who didn't even open her eyes. "Hey," he whispered, resting one hand on her shoulder. His girlfriend didn't respond. "At least you still have me and the others." He said, trying to comfort her.

It didn't work. Tears slowly streamed down her face and she sobbed quietly. Hiccup slowly took her into his arms, shushing her. Astrid was on the brink of bursting and letting her sadness flow. Hiccup opened his mouth to say, "I'm sorry.", but before he could, an angry roar cut through the air. Hookfang was awake, fire spreading from nose to tail in his flame jacket move, snarling angrily. _"WHERE IS THAT SON OF A SNAILBRAIN?!"_ he roared.

Everyone was instantly startled by both the Nightmare's anger and the fact that he was alive. Snotlout laughed and ran up to hug his dragon by the snout, but Hookfang angrily roared and shoved him away. Toothless roared back, spine glowing blue. Upon seeing this, Hookfang immediately calmed down and bowed. _"Now."_ Toothless commanded. _"What is all this about a 'son of a snailbrain'?"_ Barf and Belch, having now regained consciousness, snickered at the saying. _"Snailbrain… we should use that more often."_ Ignoring them, Hookfang spoke up. _"There was someone here last night. A Night Fury. He said someone wanted to meet you. We fought him and… we lost. We outnumbered him." "And yet, we couldn't beat him."_ Stormfly groaned, now fully awake and ignoring Astrid's excited laughs and warnings to not die on her again. _"He was just too powerful. We even used the big bang maneuver… and he survived."_

Hiccup seemed curious. "This Night Fury." He said. "Did he have a name?" Stormfly was silent for a moment, trying to recall. Of course, none of the other riders knew Dragonese yet, because they were now staring at Hiccup blankly and wondering what in the name of Thor he meant. _"Yes, he… he said his name was Eclipse. Oh, also he had yellow eyes and a spine that glowed purple."_ Toothless lit up, recognizing that was the same dragon who had fought him. As he explained to the dragons about how he had fought Eclipse before, Hiccup translated the still confused riders what the dragons had just said.

"So, Eclipse and this Shadowhunter guy have something in common." Astrid guessed as they all walked to the great hall. "Yes. According to Eclipse, Shadowhunter is his master. And they both want something with Toothless. But what?" Hiccup responded. "Maybe they want to make us powerless and leaderless." Fishlegs theorized. "We have to find him soon." Hiccup stated. "And due to what he did to those men back on the Edge… I don't think he can be reasoned with." "So, when do we start looking for him?" Astrid asked. "When night comes. The only times I've seen Eclipse were at nighttime. I doubt he's a nocturnal one."


	10. Hunt

Shadowhunter waited on the island not far from his hideout. He knew they were coming. Eclipse had told him so. He had currently departed to show the Riders about one of his other abilities… how the other Night Furies had been "recruited" into his army. But no matter how skilled the Riders were, they would be no match for the Shadowhunter and his "army of darkness".

It had been hours since the riders had departed from Berk to find the Shadowhunter. They were now on an island near Dragon Mountain to see if he was somewhere near here, but they had no luck. "Whoever this guy is, he's not here." Astrid stated. "If he's outside the archipelago, it could take us days to find him." Hiccup nodded. But before he could respond, he noticed something in the night sky, completely silhouetted. The figure landed, its yellow eyes shining. _"There is no need, Astrid."_ Eclipse announced.

Hiccup instantly stood and scowled at Eclipse, who had his attention on the dragons. _"You survived. Impressive."_ "What do you want with us?" Hiccup growled. Eclipse turned to him. _"My master wants only one thing: dominance."_ He then noticed the other riders, who seemed like they wanted revenge on him for what he did to their dragons. But Eclipse didn't want to waste his time with them. Upon noticing a wild Night Fury just entering the clearing, he knew exactly what to do. (A/N: This is not the first time Hiccup and the Riders meet another Night Fury. I'll be posting another story about their first time. I'll give you a sneak peek about it: Toothless will reunite with his family three weeks after the events of the second film.)

Eclipse's eyes began to glow purple. Hiccup smirked, knowing that this wouldn't work on his best friend. "What's he doing?" Snotlout asked, confused. Before Hiccup could answer, a howl of pain rang out behind them. Everyone whirled around to see a wild Night Fury thrashing around in pain and clawing at its head. It screeched as if it was being slowly impaled through the heart. Within seconds, it stopped. "I-is it okay?" Astrid whispered. The Night Fury's eyes opened. Instead of its normal color, its pupils were dilated, and the rest of its eyes were bright purple. It stood and looked straight at Eclipse. He motioned the Night Fury and spoke. _"Deal with them."_ he commanded.

Without hesitation, the Night Fury pounced at the riders and knocked down the twins before lunging at Stormfly. When Hiccup realized what was happening, Eclipse was gone. This Night Fury was under his control. A slave to the darkness. And a large amount of these mindless, innocent creatures was forced to make up Shadowhunter's army? He had to defeat the two of them to free the dragons. The others were trying to hold the beast off, yelling things like "This isn't yourself! You're not in control of your actions! Fight it! Snap out of it!", but to no avail. The Night Fury roared in response and swatted the Riders away with a single claw swipe. Thinking fast, Hiccup drew his sword, ignited it, and swung it over his head, trying to catch the dragon's attention.

It worked…partly.

Instead of calming down like he expected it to do, the Night Fury seemed to get a bit angrier at the sight. It roared in fury, knocked Toothless off it, and charged at Hiccup. He rolled to the side to avoid being hit. He whipped out his shield, converted it to crossbow mode, and fired, tying the beast down. It gave an alerted shriek and wrestled with the ropes, attempting to break free. "Come on! Let's go!" The Riders mounted their dragons and instantly took off, leaving the enslaved beast behind. _I'll come back for you._ Hiccup thought to the dragon. _I'll end this suffering for you._


	11. Showdown

As Shadowhunter expected, Eclipse and his new servant hadn't stopped the Riders. No, he had ordered Eclipse to simply _lead them_ to him, so he could finish them off himself. He wanted them to see what he could do. When he heard wingbeats behind him, he turned. Ah, yes, everyone was there. All of them were accounted for. Good.

"Welcome." He greeted them. Hiccup seemed to be the one who was most determined to kill him. "You're making them serve you against their will. You've made them mindless slaves!" Shadowhunter chuckled. "And just what does that remind you of, Chief?" Hiccup froze upon remembering. "Yes, I recruit them just like Drago does. But I would not call them 'mindless slaves'. I prefer 'ruthless, merciless soldiers', showing no fear in the heart of battle and embracing the darkness within them. And now…" Shadowhunter took out his weapon and activated it, the three purple plasma blades springing to life. "…you shall face yours."

Hiccup stared in utter shock at the weapon. It had three blades, one being the main blade and two being cross guard blades. But the fact that shocked him the most was that… they were made of…

 _Plasma…_

Their armored enemy slowly advanced towards them, spinning the weapon in his hand. It made a low hissing sound as it did so. Hiccup ignited his own sword, ready. "Steady guys. On my call, we rush him." He whispered to his friends. They all nodded. "And… NOW!"

Astrid was the first one to act, charging at Shadowhunter, screaming while holding her axe above her head. Shadowhunter didn't move. Instead, he lashed out with his plasma sword…

…and sliced Astrid's axe in two.

She froze and stared in horror at the shaft… the only part of the axe she was holding. The blade had landed somewhere to the right. Before she or the others could react, Shadowhunter grabbed her by the neck and looked deep into her eyes as she clawed at his black armored hand. Hiccup gasped in horror, but before he could yell at Shadowhunter to let her go, he turned, gave Hiccup a cold stare, and threw Astrid aside like a rag doll. She collapsed right in front of a rock wall, gasping for air.

"Pathetic. Hopefully the rest of you will resort to alternative strategies." He taunted them. Suddenly, roars rang out from behind him, followed by growls, snarls and pained yelps. Toothless and Eclipse burst from behind Shadowhunter, the two of them resembling a black whirlwind of fury. When they slowed and started to pace around each other, Hiccup could see scars and wound on both dragons. Toothless' tail looked like it was about to be torn off and Eclipse's wings seemed almost tattered. The fighters growled, slowly circling. Toothless was probably waiting for Eclipse to strike first, and Eclipse was maybe thinking the same thing.

Ignoring the black beasts, Shadowhunter charged at Hiccup, who raised his flaming sword high. The plasma sword was brought down to meet the Dragon Blade, but instead of slicing the blade, both weapons met. Fire and plasma alike burned through the air. Shadowhunter was shocked at how Hiccup's weapon wasn't damaged. He silently cursed. His weapon wasn't strong enough to slice through certain materials. But no matter. He wanted a fair fight anyway.

All the Riders charged at once, and Shadowhunter easily dispatched them, cutting all their weapons then throwing the Vikings to the ground. He would wait to kill them. Behind him, the other dragons had joined Toothless for revenge on Eclipse mortally wounding them back at the arena.

Eclipse snarled and launched himself at them. He latched onto Hookfang's neck, who slammed Eclipse to the ground. In response, Eclipse slashed his talon across the Monstrous Nightmare's face. Stormfly then charged at him, making the Night Fury slam into a rock wall. Dazed, Eclipse stood up. His yellow eyes burned as he growled and continued his attack.

As Shadowhunter and Hiccup clashed under the moonlight, the young Chief heard his rival begin to taunt him. "You will never be as strong as your father, boy. Once I take your dragon, his entire race will bow before me, making both you and Drago powerless against the black clouds that approach!" Hiccup scowled and pushed his foe back, making him stumble. Red and purple shone in the night as both blades struck each other repeatedly.

Eventually, Hiccup struck the winning blow… a blow that connected with Shadowhunter's helmet. The armored adversary yelled as he turned away and covered his face as his helmet clattered to the ground. "Eclipse!" he yelled. "We are leaving!" Eclipse, who was currently trying to rip off a piece of Stormfly's wing, snarled and dashed to his master. In the blink of an eye, Eclipse snatched his master and took off into the night sky.

Everyone, both human and dragon, was exhausted. They had suffered many wounds, ones that would take time to heal. Hiccup sighed and deactivated his sword before holstering it. The strange enemy had escaped… for now. When he returned, the Riders would be ready for him. "Come on guys." He said to the others, who were groaning in pain. "Let's go home."

 **Inspirations**

 **Eclipse: Unborn NightWing of the same name from the Wings of Fire franchise**

 **Fierceclaws: see Eclipse**

 **Controlled Night Furies: mind-controlled Toothless from the second film**

 **Shadowhunter: Take a guess. (Hint: Star Wars)**

 **Shadowhunter's weapon: see Shadowhunter**

 **So that's my Halloween story for you guys! It was either this or a Goosebumps story for this time of year, but I chose this. I plan to make a sequel to this in the future (although that may not be for a while) so keep in check!**


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